Poisoned by Choice
by kingoffire1
Summary: Transported to a different world when he was a baby, Naruto was raised by the dragon Veleno to be a Dragon Slayer. He will now live out his life in this world, but not everything from the past has been left behind. Challenge by mellra.
1. Chapter 1

**Poisoned by Choice**

**Chapter 1: Picking the Poison**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Naruto they belong to Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively**

**A/N: Another Naruto and Fairy Tail crossover for my second story. This is a challenge issued to me by mellra, who will also be the beta. This fic will be updated sporadically and will take second priority to my other fic, Hidden Guild: Silent Leaf. Now let's get this started.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**"Demon/Dragon Talking"**

**'Demon/Dragon Thinking'**

_'Flashback'_

_Magic/Magic Item_

**Location/Time Change**

**Hidden Forest in Fiore, X768**

In a cave located deep in a barren forest one large yellow eye opened at an unfamiliar sound that echoed through the forest. The owner of the eye got up from his nap and exited the cave. Its form was then revealed to be that of a giant purple scaled dragon. The dragon's large dark red wings flexed to their full length as it let out a massive yawn. Along the dragon's back was a series of sharp spines connected by a webbing, similar to its wings, which traveled down its back all the way to the base of its long tail. The dragon had short horns growing from the back of its head and five fingers on its hands and feet that ended in sharp claws, and on the elbows were two sharp protrusions. The dragon then tilted its head to find the source of the sound that it could now identify as crying, and started to make its way towards it.

The dragon came across the source of the crying and was shocked at what it had found. While it had smelled blood and humans on its way it never imagined the scene before it. A woman with long red hair that was wearing a sleeveless blouse under a green dress was lying next to a newborn child with yellow hair and a set of three whisker marks on his cheeks. As surprising as this, was the most shocking thing was that the woman had a giant hole in her stomach that she was bleeding out from and the baby was in a cradle surround by candles and had a spiral shaped tattoo on his stomach. The dragon wanted to know what was going on, and why it appeared as if someone had the gall to perform a magical ritual in its forest.

**"Woman."** The dragon called out in a gruff voice. **"What the hell do you think you are doing in my forest?"**

The woman looked up in desperation to the dragon as she could feel her life ebbing away. "Please… look after… my son… his name is… Naruto." With that the mother passed away before the dragon could even learn her name.

The dragon let out a snort at her words. **"Unfortunately for you, woman, I am the Poison Dragon, Veleno. Nothing other than another dragon is able to withstand the toxins in my breath released just by breathing, let alone the amount that would be put out in the time spent raising a child."** The newly named Veleno told the corpse. **"You should already have met your son in the afterlife."** The dragon paused as he could still hear the baby crying. **'Impossible. There's no way a human could still be alive, especially a mere baby.'** But when Veleno turned around he saw that the baby was still alive and was apparently suffering no ill effects from the toxic air it was breathing. He raised a clawed hand and placed it on his chin. He looked from the baby back to the woman's body. **'Maybe I can take up your request, woman. Maybe I can.'**

Veleno quickly dug a grave for the woman and placed her body in it. He then filled the grave and carved the year into a rock he used as a tombstone. Veleno picked up the still crying Naruto with his hand and headed back to his cave. As he left the clearing, Naruto stopped crying and fell asleep clinging to Veleno's thumb. Veleno looked down and a small smile crept over his face. Maybe he wouldn't be so alone anymore.

**X773**

A five year old Naruto looked up from the book he was reading at the napping dragon in front of him. Naruto's hair had grown to stand up in golden yellow spikes and he was dressed only in a pair of blue shorts that were originally too large and had obviously been cut down to fit his smaller frame. He slowly set the book down and started to stealthily make his way out of the clearing. As he was about to leave a voice called out from behind him.

**"And where do you think you're going?"**

Naruto turned around and met Veleno's half opened eye with a guilty look. "Uh… I'm going to the bathroom?" Naruto hesitantly lied.

**"Of course you are. And you were just going to take the scenic route I suppose."** Veleno sarcastically asked. **"After all, why else would you head in the opposite direction of the bathroom?" **Naruto rubbed the back of his head, at Veleno's point. He had been heading for the practice clearing to try and get his _Poison Dragon's Roar_ to work. **"You know that you have to learn this stuff, gaki."**

"But, Dad, it's so boring." Naruto whined out. "Why do I have to learn to read, write, and count?"

**"Because you can't live in this forest forever, and I don't want you to be ignorant of the outside world."** Veleno reminded him again.

"No way. I'm going to stay here with you forever, dattebayo." Naruto declared with his verbal tic showing, making Veleno gain a sad look.

**'I wish you could, Naruto.'** The ancient dragon silently thought to himself as he watched Naruto go back to his book.

**X775**

_"Poison Dragon's Roar!"_ An older Naruto called out as he let out a large breathe of a dark red poison that hit a tree and went through it. The remaining pieces started to dissolve from the toxins left over from his attack. "There goes another tree." Naruto muttered with a sweatdrop going down the back of his head. He had already turned most of his usual training ground into a barren wasteland from all of the poison he had used.

**"Gaki, you have to remember what I told you about our Poison Magic."** Veleno told Naruto.

"I know, I know. Poison isn't as strong or powerful as other magics. It's a precise art that can finish a fight without having to fight." Naruto repeat the words Veleno had told him time after time. "But why do I have to know so much in order to use it? Won't I kill anyone I fight because they can't handle the poison like us?" He asked.

**"Correct. Poison is more of a support magic that's been looked down upon for being either too weak to actually decisively win a fight or too deadly to be used by most mages. But poison is actually quite versatile. I make you read those books and learn so much because of this. Imagine if you want to defeat your enemy, but don't want to kill them. What would you do?"** Veleno asked.

"Punch him without magic?" Naruto answered.

**"That wouldn't be as effective as poisoning him, though."** Veleno pointed out. **"My breath is enough to kill anything, but a dragon and you, if they are exposed to it for an extended period of time. But that isn't all that I can do with poison. In my fights I've used poison to paralyze foes, cause them to hallucinate, and even bring them to their knees with pain."** The dragon bragged. **"As long as you know what you are doing you can beat someone with poison without killing them."**

"When will you teach me how to do that, Dad?" Naruto asked with stars in his eyes.

**"I told you; I've already started, that's what all the reading has been for. You can use the basics of ****_Dragon Slayer Magic_**** already, so it is time that I elaborate on the finer points of using poison."** Veleno told Naruto.

"Yes!" He cheered. Naruto couldn't wait to learn more about his magic from his dad. Unfortunately for him, Naruto didn't comprehend what this would mean.

Veleno brought out a large book that he placed in front of Naruto. His jaw dropped at the size of the book. **"Now you have to read this book."** Veleno said with a smirk. Naruto let out a groan, but sat down and started to read.

**A Few Days Later**

Naruto walked up to the sleeping Veleno and dropped the book by his head. The dragon opened his eye and stared at the grinning Naruto. "I read the book cover to cover. Now, will you teach me the finer points of poison?" He asked.

**"Very well. Gather poison around your fists."** Veleno instructed. Naruto complied and formed _Poison Dragon's Claws_. The dark red poison looked like a pair of demonic claws and would corrode anything they touched. **"Right now you aren't doing anything other than letting your magic flow naturally. This means that the natural amount of poison you can produce is being used. As a ****_Poison Dragon Slayer_****, your poison levels are naturally very high and deadly. If you want to be able to fight in a legal guild then you have to focus on lowering the toxicity of your attacks."** Veleno explained.

"So I just have to concentrate on not dissolving a tree?" Naruto asked. "No problem, dattebayo!" He stepped up to a new tree and furrowed his brow in concentration. After several seconds he gave out a cry and swiped at the tree. His attack went right through it and the tree collapsed with a thud.

Veleno gave off a chuckle. **"Not as easy as you thought, huh, gaki?"**

"But I concentrated and everything. What went wrong?" A confused Naruto questioned.

**"A dragon's poison is ****_extremely_**** potent. Even a very weak attack is still stronger than a high powered human ****_Poison Magic_**** attack. You're going to have to lower the levels a lot before you can perform nonlethal attacks"** He informed him. **"And you won't be able to work on paralysis or hallucinations until you can definitely not kill someone."**

"How much should I lower it by?" Naruto asked.

**"****You know the normal levels you use?" **Veleno replied.

"Yeah."

**"****You need to make it go a hell of a lot lower."**

Naruto formed _Poison Dragon's Claws _again and lowered the toxicity below what he had just used. "Like this?"

**"****Lower." **The dragon told him.

Naruto tried again. "This low?"

**"****Lower." **Veleno said as he settled down for a nap.

Naruto brought the toxicity down even more. "Now?"

**"****Keep going."**

"This good?"

**"****No."**

"You aren't even looking, dattebayo!"

**"****I can sense it and you could take out a fully grown Vulcan in under ten seconds with that much poison."**

"What's a Vulcan?"

Veleno let out a sigh. This was going to be a long process.

**Several Weeks Later**

"Yes, I finally did it!" Naruto cheered as he looked at his latest target. The tree was still standing and the poison on it was not eating through it. It had taken him days of nonstop training to lower the toxicity of his magic and then even more days to gain the ability to keep it that low, but it was worth it. He quickly ran up to where Veleno was sleeping to tell him about his latest success. "Dad, Dad, I did it. I can prevent my poison from killing people."

**"****Show me." **The dragon told him. Naruto complied and swiped at a nearby tree. Veleno examined his attack and found the results satisfactory. Naruto had managed to only leave claw marks in the tree and the leftover poison wouldn't be able to dissolve anymore of the tree. If used on a human it would make them feel as if the affected area was on fire and they would start to lose control of their motor skills. **"That's good, gaki. Now you can start with paralysis." **Veleno told him.

Naruto sat down and crossed his legs. Whenever his dad was going to teach him something he had learned to be quiet and listen. Veleno rarely repeated himself and expected Naruto to be able to understand most of what he said on the first try, which is why he had him learn and read so much.

**"****In order to use your poison for paralysis you must first change the basic chemical makeup of the poison that naturally flows through you." **Veleno began. **"This is easier with ****_Poison Dragon Slayer Magic _****than with lowering the toxicity as the poison is already there. You just have to feel it out. It should feel like this." **Veleno held up his hand and showed Naruto the yellow poison that surrounded it. **"Take a bite."**

Naruto grabbed the poison and started to eat it. After he finished a yellow aura surrounded him. "Whoa, I feel weird." He said.

**"****That's because it's your first time using a different kind of poison. You didn't notice it when you were trying to lower your toxicity as it was a gradual process." **Veleno explained. **"Try using your new magic on one of the animals in the forest. It works the same way as your normal attacks." **Veleno ordered. **"Come back here after you're done and I'll show you how to draw it out yourself.**

Naruto nodded and headed off into the forest. He had spent his whole life growing up among the trees and had learned how to travel on the branches. As he jumped through the canopy he used his enhanced sight to search for prey. Eventually he came across a squirrel that was out gathering nuts. He stopped above it and froze. When he confirmed that the squirrel hadn't noticed him he gathered the magic around his elbow. _"Poison Dragon's Spine." _He muttered as a slim, yellow colored spine made of _Poison Magic_, similar to Veleno's, grew out of his elbow. He pulled on the spine and it came out to form a spear-like shape. Naruto quickly threw the spear, before it could dissipate, and hit the squirrel. The animal froze in place and collapsed. Naruto jumped down and checked the squirrel for a pulse. Finding none he frowned in confusion and decided to bring the squirrel back to his dad to see if he knew what he had done wrong. Naruto climbed back up the tree and returned to the clearing. "Dad, I did what you told me, but still killed it." He told the dragon.

**"****Hm?" **Veleno raised a nonexistent eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't given Naruto that much poison so he shouldn't have been able to paralyze an animal's entire system and killed it. When he saw the squirrel he was holding the dragon face palmed. He should have been more specific and told the kid to start with something large like a deer. **"When I said to try it on an animal, I meant something more along the lines of a deer. With such a small animal the poison paralyzed its heart and killed it." **He told Naruto. **"Never mind that, come here." **Naruto set the squirrel aside to eat later and walked up to Veleno. **"Do you remember the different feeling of the paralysis poison?" **Seeing Naruto nod he continued. **"Seek out that same feeling inside of you. As you focus the poison should react to your desire and change accordingly."**

"Got it." Naruto told him and then closed his eyes in concentration. He searched inside to find the poison he wanted. As he searched he felt his poison changing. Soon it went from his normal deadly, corrosive poison to a less lethal variant that felt like what Veleno had given him earlier. Naruto opened his eyes and formed his _Poison Dragon's Claws. _He saw that instead of his normal dark red poison he now had yellow like earlier. "I got it, and on the first try, dattebayo."

**"****Yes, but you know what comes next, right?" **Veleno asked while interrupting his cheering.

"More training?" Naruto asked in resignation.

**"****More training." **Veleno nodded in confirmation.

"That's fine. I already did this when I made my poison nonlethal. How much harder could it be?" Naruto declared with confidence. He soon lost it at the giant smirk on Veleno's face. 'Shit.'

**One Week Later**

Naruto walked up to Veleno again covered in sweat and panting heavily. He poked the sleeping dragon in the face to get him to wake up. "Dad, I got the hang of the paralysis poison. What's next?" He asked.

**"****You do the same thing with the hallucinogen poison." **Veleno told him without opening his eyes. He held up his hand again, only this time it was covered in a green poison. **"It will be easier to use this kind as hallucinogens are nonlethal. **

Naruto gave out a groan. "Fuck. Okay, I'll do it." As he went to eat the poison Veleno shot out a claw and tapped him on the forehead. Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed onto his back.

**'****Foolish boy. You don't have to push yourself so hard.' **Veleno thought as he used his tail to bring Naruto to his side. He had mastered the paralysis poison faster than expected. Veleno shifted around to make the exhausted boy comfortable before placing his tail over him like a blanket. The sleeping Naruto grabbed onto the tail and cuddled up to it like a stuffed animal, making the dragon give off a small smile. **"I'm glad that you came into my life, Naruto." **The ancient dragon told the sleeping child.

**Several Days Later**

"Done." Naruto said as he watched the squirrel he had been practicing on recover from his poison and run away. He had gotten the hang of the last type of poison he had been taught. It had been significantly easier to control as he could watch the duration in its entirety and he already had a lot of practice on the other kinds of poison.

**"****Good." **Veleno rumbled from behind Naruto, making the human jump. He would never understand how something so big was able to move around so quietly. **"Now you can finally learn the secrets of ****_Poison Dragon Slaying Magic_****." **He told him.

"Secrets?" Naruto said in confusion. "I thought the different types of poison were the secrets."

Veleno gave out a long, booming laugh. **"No, those were only a little beyond the basics. You didn't think that the spells I taught you were all there was to learn about fighting with ****_Dragon Slaying Magic_****, did you? There is so much more, stronger magic that you can learn, including the pinnacle of all ****_Dragon Slaying Magic: Dragon Force._****" **He told Naruto, who looked up with stars in his eyes. He didn't know what _Dragon Force _was, but it sounded super cool to him.

"What are you going to teach me first, Dad?" He asked.

**"****First you will learn the advanced spells, which are known as ****_Toxic Overflow_****. After which I will attempt to teach you ****_Dragon Force._****" **Veleno outlined his teaching plan to Naruto. **"If you get good enough at the advanced spells, eventually, you will be able to make up your own spells.**

"When do we start?" Naruto asked in excitement.

A smile spread across Veleno's face as he set himself into a crouch. Wisps of poisonous gases started to trickle out of his mouth that made Naruto's eyes widen as he reflexively slipped into his fighting stance. **"Right now." **Veleno roared as he shot poison at Naruto. He had discovered early into Naruto's training that he learned faster and better if he sparred with Veleno compared to when he was just told what to do, and if he didn't get it then he would never give up and keep trying until he did.

Naruto knew the rules of his spars with his dad and dodged the stream of poison instead of eating it. Like Veleno always said: 'You won't always face a _Poison Magic _user, so you have to learn how to dodge.' Naruto took that to heart and never tried to eat his dad's poison. In reality Veleno had an ulterior motive. He didn't want Naruto to accidently trigger _Dragon's Force _or die from eating too much potent poison too early in his training. If he activated _Dragon's Force _unknowingly the rage he would be driven into could end up killing him by pushing his body past its limits.

**"****Activate your full ****_Poison Dragon's Spines_****." **Veleno instructed as Naruto flitted around the clearing. Naruto complied and purple spines grew on his back and elbows. Feeling the spell activate, Veleno continued with his instructions. **"Now cross your arms and spin forwards while focusing your magic to the spins. If you can do this fast enough you will be able to move around like a wheel." **Veleno then "encouraged" Naruto by slamming his tail at where he had been running.

'Cross my arms and spin, cross my arms and spin. Then focus my magic to the spines. Got it.' Naruto thought to himself. He jumped forwards to start a somersault and used his momentum and spines to grab hold of the ground and start spinning like a demented wheel. Unfortunately he lacked the control needed to turn and ended up plowing into a tree and getting stuck in the trunk.

**'****This might take a while.' **Veleno thought as he watched Naruto's poison dissolve the trunk and the mage fall onto his head.

**January X777**

It had taken years of hard training and Naruto's sweat, blood, and tears, (literally) but Veleno had finally deemed Naruto ready to learn _Dragon Force. _**"Alright, Naruto, in order to use ****_Dragon Force _****you must look inside of yourself and search for the hidden power that needs to be unlocked. Nearly all of the Dragon Slayers in history have been unable to use this power at will. Most have to eat an extremely powerful magic of their specific element in order to activate it, so don't be discouraged if you can't get it on your first try." **Veleno told the mage as he sat in a meditating position.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll be the first mage to get it on their first try, dattebayo! After all, I was trained by you." Naruto confidently told him. He then closed his eyes and started to concentrate.

**Inside Naruto's Mind**

Naruto stood up in a hallway lined with pipes that was filled with water that reached up to his shins. He looked around in confusion. 'What is this, a sewer? I guess I should look around and see if I can find the "inner power" Dad was talking about.' Naruto decided and walked down the hall. The farther he got the more he could feel a dark presence. He eventually came to a large barred gate that had a small tag with a strange symbol on it. Confused, Naruto walked closer to the bar assuming that his power was lock behind the gate. When he got within a foot of the bars a giant clawed hand with red-orange fur tried to impale him around the bars. Naruto fell onto his back in the water and backed away from the claws. From the darkness a large fox head with matching fur, black markings around its giant slitted red eyes, whisker marks on its cheeks, and black lips pulled back in a snarl to revel giant, white, razor sharp teeth twice the size of Naruto. A deep, malicious voice echoed around the sewer. **"I've been waiting for you, human."**

**A/N: And first chapter done. Now this story will be shorter and I will only work on it after my monthly chapter for Silent Leaf has been posted so there might be significant time between chapters. I've warned you so I do NOT want to get PMs or reviews about the time it takes me to update. Naruto's poisons are: dark red for lethal (like Cobra), purple for nonlethal, yellow for paralysis, and green for hallucinogen. If you have questions about the story leave a review. Later.**


	2. Chapter 2: Price of Power

**Poisoned by Choice**

**Chapter 2: Price of Power**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Naruto they belong to Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively**

**A/N: Took a while to get the interaction between Naruto and Kurama to feel right, but I think that I managed. This was pretty hard to write the same way it went in my head and I hope that I did it justice.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**"Demon/Dragon Talking"**

**'Demon/Dragon Thinking'**

_'Flashback'_

_Magic/Magic Item_

**Location/Time Change**

**Inside Naruto's Mind**

The giant fox scornfully glared down at Naruto.** "Pathetic. I can't even reach you, yet you're trembling at the sight of me. Humans are such weak creatures."** The fox said as he withdrew his paw.

Naruto stared at the beast in surprise. This was his inner power that he needed to find in order to activate Dragon Force? He had been expecting something a little more draconic. He got back to his feet and pointed a finger at the fox. "You're my hidden power? What kind of power named Dragon Force looks like a fox?" He demanded.

The fox took offense to that. **"You idiot! I'm not this "Dragon Force". I am Kyubi, the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. Strongest of all the Biju! The likes of you can't even begin to comprehend my power."**

Naruto was angered by Kyubi's words. "What's a Biju? And if you're so great and powerful then why are you behind those bars and unable to reach me?" He asked. "Seems like you're just talk, dattebayo."

**"You want to see my power? Fine."** Kyubi gave Naruto a smirk as a bubbling red energy started to emerge from behind the bars. **"Take it. And then you'll see what I mean."**

The red energy started to approach Naruto and he backed away. Kyubi didn't seem like the kind to just give him his power for free, and the evil smirk he was wearing didn't help. Naruto wasn't willing to risk using the fox's power without knowing the consequences.

Kyubi watched Naruto back away from his chakra with amusement. **"What's wrong? Can't handle my power?"** He questioned.** "That won't do. I'm showing you that you were right to fear me."** At his words the red chakra shot forwards and started to be absorbed by Naruto, who started to scream in pain as pathways that had never been used were forced to handle more chakra than it had ever seen. The Kyubi gave a cruel smile as he felt Naruto start to lose control.

**Outside Naruto's Mind**

Veleno napped as he waited for Naruto to fail and come ask him for help. No mage had ever accessed Dragon Force on their first try for a reason. Even if they did find their hidden power they couldn't access it without a large source of their element. Most mages never thought about that and spent lifetimes without being able to use it, while some were able to learn the trick, but never accessed it. Only a select few had learned how to use Dragon Force and it had been all but outlawed after _him_. Veleno's nap was interrupted when he felt a foreign power emit from Naruto. He opened his eyes and the old dragon was shocked by what he saw. Naruto's hair had gotten longer and shaggier, his whisker marks had thickened and darkened, his canine teeth had elongated even further than normal, a tattoo of a spiral and some other symbols around it had appeared on his stomach, and, the most shocking thing was the wisps of red energy were wafting off of him. Veleno knew that something had gone very wrong. The red energy was not magic, and he had never felt anything like it before. **"What are you doing, brat?"** Veleno demanded as he reached out with a claw and tapped Naruto on the head.

**Inside Naruto's Mind**

Veleno looked around the sewer-like structure in confusion. He didn't remember leaving the clearing, and where was Naruto? Veleno looked around the somewhat cramped (to him) space and found what he was looking for at the end of the hall. Veleno raced down the hall and blew away the red energy from Naruto with his breath.

The blond Dragon Slayer dropped to his knees and started to gasp for air. He felt as if his entire body was burning on the inside. He had never felt anything like that, not even when he had been training to eat poison had his body burned this much. As the time passed however, he started to feel better, even better than he had felt before he had entered his mindscape. He glared up at the bars that held the fox. "What the hell did you do to me?" Naruto demanded.

The giant fox let out a laugh. **"How does it feel to use chakra for the first time, human? Can you feel the power flowing through you? Take everything that you felt and multiply it by a thousand times and you still wouldn't come close to my power."** Kyubi taunted. He was stopped when Veleno slammed his head against the bars and glared at the fox.

**"What is going on? Talk, fox."** The dragon demanded.

Kyubi rose up onto his haunches to reveal that he had the upper body and arms of a human. Nine long tails whipped up around him as he stared Veleno in the eyes.** "And why should I tell you, dragon?"** He asked.

**"Because if you don't I'll put you in such agony that you'll beg me for death."**

**"With what, your poison? I've been stuck inside this pathetic human since you found him in the clearing. I'm the reason that he hasn't died just by being next to you. I've been healing his body of poison since day one. Nothing you could throw at me could do anything."** Kyubi told him with a fanged grin. **"Why don't you come in and show me what you're made of, dragon?"** He taunted.

Veleno wasn't going to be easily fooled. **"Why don't you leave your cage, fox?"** He countered. He gave a smile as Kyubi snarled at him. **"Or are you stuck?"**

"What's chakra?" Naruto interrupted as he got back to his feet. The giant beasts had forgotten that he was there during their verbal spar.

Veleno and Naruto gave matching looks to the only one that seemed to know what chakra was. Kyubi gained a superior smile at their ignorance. **"And why should I tell you?"** He asked again. They couldn't do anything to make him short of removing the seal and setting him free to try and beat the answer out of him, but it that happened he would be gone from this cursed prison and free to do as he pleased.

**"Because that's what you are."** Veleno said, making both Naruto and Kyubi stare at him. **"I've been sensing what is going on in here since I arrived and the chakra that you gave to Naruto felt the same as your entire being."** Veleno narrowed his eyes at Kyubi. **"If you are chakra then how is Naruto able to use you?"**

**"Because he has chakra naturally within him." **Kyubi turned a baleful eye at Naruto. **"And that makes his body my prison and him my warden."** He said with his hatred obvious in every word.

**"Why were you imprisoned, and why inside of me?" **Naruto asked. He was lost on what the fox was talking about with chakra and him being a prison, but there had to be a reason that he had been chosen and the fox locked away.

**"I don't know why the bastard that sealed me chose you, but I was imprisoned for attacking the** **village that you are from."**

"Then you deserved it!" Naruto shouted. If this giant powerful beast had been attacking his village, even if he didn't know where or what it was, then he could understand why they had sealed Kyubi away.

**"WRONG!"** Kyubi shouted as he slammed his head against the bars.** "I was used! A masked bastard with his cursed Sharingan hypnotized me into attacking your village. I don't give a damn about what you humans do. You're an annoying species that I would prefer to never see again!"** He declared.

"What's a Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

**"Not important!"** The fox snapped.

Naruto looked at the Kyubi with a serious expression as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes into slits. "Is chakra dangerous?" He asked.

**"If used properly chakra can form many different attacks, but the pure stuff in your body will kill you if you use it all. My chakra is toxic to anyone other than my jinchuriki."** Kyubi answered. **"That's what you are."** He said to quickly cut off Naruto's next question. Seriously, why did the kid ask so many damn questions? It was annoying as hell.

"Then why can't I let you go?" Naruto asked, surprising Veleno and Kyubi.

**"Gaki, are you sure?"** Veleno asked. **"This fox just admitted to attacking your village and just attacked you. That could be a very risky move."** He warned.

"Well he didn't want to attack my village, and he only hates me because he's trapped inside of me." Naruto reasoned. He turned to regard Kyubi, who was staring at Naruto in shock. "If I let you out you won't attack me, right?" He asked.

Kyubi stared at Naruto for a while. Never before had anyone asked for his opinion. The entire time the two red haired bitches hadn't even attempted to use his power, let alone talk to him. But this brat was willing to release the seal and let him go and he hadn't even met him for an hour. Plus, he had tried to kill Naruto before he even knew that Kyubi was inside of him. This kid was different from the others, who only saw him as a monster**. "I wouldn't if you could release the seal."** Kyubi finally answered. **"But you need the key to release me and you can't use that without chakra." **Not that Naruto could ever get the key seeing that it was in a completely different world, but he didn't need to know that now.

"Then teach me." Naruto said. "You are chakra then you have to know how to use it. If you teach me how to use chakra then I can let you out."

**"You would give up my power that easily?"** Kyubi questioned.

"I don't need your power; I have the magic that Dad taught me." Naruto said while looking at Veleno. The dragon had moved to the side to allow Naruto to make his own decision without his influence. It was the boy's power and body that was in question; he should be allowed to make his own decision about what to do with it. "And if that doesn't work then I'll just find a way to break the seal with magic." Naruto told the fox.

**'Maybe you aren't as bad as other humans.'** Kyubi thought as he looked down at Naruto. **"Very well, human, it's a deal. In order to be free of this prison I will teach you how to use your chakra and in exchange you will free me through either chakra or magic."** Kyubi announced. He then hunkered back down and rested his head on his crossed arms. **"Now leave. Your presence woke me from my nap."** He dismissed them and the sewer started to disappear.

**Outside Naruto's Mind**

Naruto and Veleno snapped back to consciousness. Naruto rubbed his head in annoyance. Why did every super powerful being that he knew sleep so much? Maybe they grew tired moving their giant bodies around?

Veleno looked down at Naruto. **"Are you sure that you want to release the fox?"** He asked.

"Yes. He doesn't want to be sealed inside of me and I don't want him to be unhappy. This benefits him and doesn't hurt me so it's fine." Naruto told him with conviction.

**"Very well, it is your choice to make."** Veleno told him. **'I just hope that you don't regret it. That fox was holding something back, but I may not be around long enough to find out what.'** He looked at Naruto. They hadn't done much that day, but the boy looked exhausted. Having his chakra accessed for the first time, having Kyubi's chakra run through his system, learning that he had a giant nine-tailed fox made out of an energy that he just discovered that day sealed inside of him, and then making a deal with said fox really took an understandable toll on him. Especially since all he was supposed to be doing was to find his inner power that would let him use Dragon Force. Veleno picked up Naruto in his hand and wasn't surprised to find him out on his feet. He carried him back to his cave and settled down to sleep with him lying on his arm and using his wing to keep warm.

**Months Later**

Naruto stood in the training clearing covered in sweat and panting as he faced off with Veleno. They had been trying for months to get Naruto to activate his Dragon Force. Nothing had worked. After Kyubi taught Naruto enough about chakra to not kill himself with it they had jumped right back into activating his Dragon Force. Naruto had to find the source of his Dragon Force before he could access it at will. They could have Naruto eat Veleno's poison to activate it, but he wouldn't always be around and they were saving that for a last resort. For now Veleno wanted to teach him how to reach it before he trained him on how to use it, but they were running out of time. Their current method was to have Naruto wear himself out without using magic so that he would be forced to compensate for his weakened state and try to draw out the power.

**"Well, can you feel it?"** Veleno asked.

"All I feel is exhausted. I don't even know what I'm trying to feel in the first place." Naruto complained.

**"You'll know what it is when you find it, trust me." **Veleno reassured him.** "Do you want to try meditating again?"**

"Hell no! That sucked and was boring as hell."

**"Then come. This is also good training for fighting."** The dragon told him. Naruto snorted, but still charged back at Veleno and gave off a flurry of jabs and swings that had no effect on the hard scales that made up Veleno's hide. After watching him for a while Veleno finally had Naruto stop.

The exhausted mage collapsed onto his back. He had been doing nothing but fight for four days straight and he had reached his limit. "This bites! Why the hell can't I use Dragon Force? I've been training for months and still nothing." He griped.

**"I told you that it was a complicated and hard magic. You literally become as strong as a dragon. Most Dragon Slayers spend their lives trying to learn how to use it and some are able to learn how within their first week. There is no set way to activate it."** Veleno reminded him. He looked at the sky and noticed that the sun started to set. **'And now I'm out of time. I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm going to have to end this tomorrow.'** Veleno picked up Naruto and brought him back to the cave while ignoring the mages feeble and false protests that he could walk on his own legs. The dragon and boy went to sleep together that night for the last time.

**The Next Morning**

Naruto stood across from Veleno in the clearing with his arms crossed over his chest. "Come on, Dad. I want to get started." He told the dragon.

Veleno was facing away from Naruto with his eyes shut. He gave out a deep sigh**. "We're not training today."** He told him.

"What?! Why not?" Naruto asked in outrage.

**"It's no good. You can't activate Dragon Force. You're a disgrace to me."** Veleno said with venom in his voice.

Naruto stared at him in shock. Didn't he say yesterday that most Dragon Slayers didn't actually reach Dragon Force? Now he was contradicting himself. "Don't be ridiculous! You said that-"

**"Enough! You can't do it. You aren't worthy to call yourself a Dragon Slayer."** Veleno harshly said. **"Leave. The sight of you sickens me."**

Naruto started to stalk over to the dragon in a rage. "What the hell are you saying, Dad?" He demanded. "What do you mean that I'm not a Dragon Slayer? I can use the Dragon Slayer Magic that you taught me. How am I not a-"

**"That was a mistake!"** Veleno cut him off again. **"I should have never taken you in. I knew it was a foolish decision in the beginning. All that came out of it was disappointment."**

Naruto stepped back in shock. Veleno had never acted like this before. He may have been distant sometimes, but he was always helpful and would occasionally praise Naruto for his progress. The way he was acting was wrong and Naruto was going to get to the bottom of this. "Dad, wha-"

**"I am not your father!"** Veleno roared at him. **"Now leave."**

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

Veleno narrowed his eyes. **"I said leave!"** He emphasized his order with a roar that sent Naruto falling back on his back.

Naruto stubbornly got back up and started to stalk towards his father figure. "No. Now tell me what's wrong. This isn't you."

**"If you won't leave then die!"** Veleno shouted as he swung his tail at Naruto and sent him flying through a tree.

Naruto rubbed a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at his hand, stunned. Veleno had never hit him that hard before. Even when they were sparring he always held back for fear of seriously injuring Naruto. With Kyubi in him that was kind of irrelevant, but they hadn't known that at the time. Still something was wrong with his father and Naruto was going to get to the bottom of it, even if he had to beat it out of the dragon.

Naruto got to his feet and charged Veleno with a purple poison around his hands. "If you won't talk then I'll make you talk!" He yelled. "_Poison Dragon's Wing Attack!_" Naruto rushed Veleno and hit him with twin streams of poison from his hands. The dragon merely laughed at him.

**"Fool. You think such a weak poison or attack will hurt me?"** Veleno asked as he turned to face Naruto. **"And you still claim to be a Dragon Slayer. Now let me show you a real dragon's attack."** Veleno reared his head back and then thrust it forward with a roar. A large, dark red stream of poison headed towards Naruto who raised his arms to block. The roar easily broke through his guards and sent him flying back.

Naruto hissed in pain and was surprised to see that his arms and chest were actually burned from that attack. He may have had a natural resistance to poison, but apparently the poison of a dragon was too much for him to handle. As his wounds started to heal, Naurto's tenant grew aware of his host being in danger. **"Brat, what's going on?" **Kyubi questioned.

"Dad's gone crazy. He's attacking me and saying that I'm a disgrace." Naruto told him.

**"Then what are you doing? You're a Dragon Slayer, so slay the dragon."**

"NO! He's still my dad, no matter what's wrong with him. I'm not going to kill him." Naruto stated resolutely. He was sure that something was wrong. His dad would never act like this. All he had to do was find out what was wrong and then fix it.

**"Well you might not have any choice. And you may want to duck."**

'Duck? Why would I want to-' "Oh fuck!" Naruto nearly had his head taken off as Veleno's tail swung over his head. The attack was so fast that the force behind it caused Naruto to be blown back.

Veleno stared at Naruto in disappointment. **"You are weak. I'm not sure what I ever saw in your pathetic body."**

Naruto felt himself boiling with rage. He could make all the excuses he wanted, but Veleno's words hurt. Naruto would prove that he was a strong mage to this twisted version of his dad and then get some answers. "Then eat this. _Poison Dragon's Roar!_" Naruto let loose a stream of dark red poison similar to Veleno's roar, but smaller in size. If he wanted to truly win then he needed to pull out all the stops and hit Veleno with his strongest poison. He couldn't use his supplementary poisons and his weaker version didn't do shit. Naruto needed to use his strongest and most potent poison to take down the Poison Dragon.

Veleno gave a grunt. Now that the kid had gotten serious his attack had actually done something. Good. He didn't want this to be too easy. Veleno shot his arm forward in a blur. Naruto barely avoided being skewered, but was still cut across his side.

Naruto gritted his teeth against the pain. The poison burned like hell and the cut hurt like a bitch, but Kyubi would fix it up in no time. He had to focus on the fight at hand and he was just given a perfect opportunity. Naruto brought his hand back. "_Poison Dragon's Sharp Horn!_" He hit the joint on Veleno's wrist with a poison covered hand thrust that sent poison through the joint and around the point of impact.

Veleno roared in pain at Naruto's blow. His eyes narrowed in anger and he swiped at Naruto with his good hand. The mage wasn't fast enough this time and was sent flying through the forest. He skipped off of the ground and rolled to a stop in a clearing.

Naruto got up and looked around in recognition. This was the clearing that Veleno first found him in and where his mother's grave was. Speaking of her grave Veleno walked out of the woods and stood over the simple marker. **"How fitting. This is where your mother gave you to me to look after and where she is buried. Soon you will join her, boy."**

"I'm not going to die here, Dad. Now it's time for you to come to your senses, dattebayo!" Naruto declared as he started to channel his chakra through his body like Kyubi had told him. He felt stronger and faster as the chakra started to flow. Naruto crouched down and shot forward faster than before. Veleno was caught off guard and Naruto rammed his foot into his gut. "_Poison Dragon's Talon!_" While he had the advantage, Naruto grew a spine on both of his elbows. He then slashed Veleno's chest before jumping away. Naruto was shocked to see that he had drawn blood with his attack. 'No way, that never happened when I used that attack on him in our spars.' He thought in concern. He didn't want to actually hurt his dad, just knock some sense back into him.

Veleno used that moment to hit Naruto with a straight punch. The blond coughed up blood as he felt his ribs crunch and his organs squish. He slammed against a boulder and cracked it. Naruto slid to the ground immobile as the Kyubi rushed to heal the damage to his system.

**"Dammit, brat, you need to start fighting seriously! If you hadn't been reinforced with chakra you'd be dead. You nearly are dead and you soon will be even with me healing you."** The fox berated him.

"What do you want me to do? He's a giant fucking dragon and I'm a nine-year old. It's not exactly a fair fight." Naruto responded.

**"Use my chakra."** Kyubi told him. **"That's the only chance you have of surviving."**

"No way! That nearly killed me last time."

**"Well it won't this time."** Kyubi said as Veleno started to approach them. **"Use it or die. Choose now."**

"Dammit. Do it." Naruto relented. Red chakra surged through his system. Naruto's eyes turned blood red and gained slitted pupils, his hair grew shaggy and longer, his already pronounced canines elongated more, his whisker marks thickened and darkened, the seal reappeared on his stomach, and a red energy formed around Naruto in a cloak that was foxlike in appearance, but lacked a tail. Naruto gave out a cry as he charged his attack and rushed Veleno to deliver a wicked punch to his face. Naruto used his increased speed to buzz around Veleno like a bee and deliver a flurry of punches all over. While the boost to his strength and speed was helpful, it came at the cost of Naruto's reason and he was only attacking like a berserker.

Veleno soon caught on to Naruto's movements and adjusted to his speed. He reached out and caught the mage in his hand and held him up to his face. **"Fool, you gave up your ability to fight smart for a power boost. I told you before; that's not how **_**Poison Dragon Slayer Magic**_** works." **Naruto thrashed in his grip, but the dragon was too strong. **"Not even the burn of your chakra can hurt me. You never had a chance."**

Naruto stopped thrashing at Veleno's words. One thing had gotten through to him. His chakra. Kyubi had said that it was toxic to other humans so maybe he would be able to eat it like poison. That might give him the power he needed to defeat Veleno, and in his current mind state he was entirely focused on power. Naruto started to eat up the chakra that made up his cloak. Soon the chakra was gone and all that was left was Naruto. An immediate change took place after he had consumed all of the chakra. Naruto let loose a burst of magical power that forced Veleno to release him. Naruto's appearance had changed again. His canines stayed elongated, but his eyes had turned back to blue, yet his pupils were still slitted. His hair and whisker marks had returned to normal, but he now had scales around his eyes, on his forehead, and on his forearms.

Veleno looked at Naruto in surprise. **'So you were able to activate **_**Dragon Force**_** after all.' **He thought with a hint of pride.

Naruto let out a primal roar as he charged Veleno. Unlike with the Kyubi chakra, Naruto had retained his reason and planned out how to fight Veleno. The dragon tried to keep up with the mage, but he was too fast and agile. Soon Veleno's body started to show signs of wear and he was even bleeding in some places. Naruto had stepped back and was preparing to finish the fight. Spines grew out of his back and elbows. "It's over, Dad." Naruto crossed his arms, ran forward, and started to spin like a wheel. "_Toxic Overflow: Corrosive Buzzsaw!_" Naruto hit Veleno in the chest and felt his scales give in. Blood spurted out of his chest and Naruto stopped his attack in horror at what he had done. He lost his _Dragon Force_ and was left panting by his father's from covered in his blood.

Tears formed in Naruto's eyes as he looked at Veleno. "How? Why?" He asked in a whisper.

**"Because I knew it was the only way."** Veleno wheezed out.

Naruto ran up to his head and looked his father in the eye. "What are you talking about?"

**"I am dying. Not because of what you did, but because of a disease I contracted long ago. I had come to this forest to spend the rest of my days in. I was ashamed that the great Poison Dragon was brought down by a sickness and didn't want anyone to know. My magic and strength has slowly been failing me over the years. I am a mere shell of my former self."** Veleno told him, getting Naruto's jaw to drop in shock. **"I was ready to give up on life and die when you showed up. Never before had I been able to raise a child. They all died in my presence. But you didn't die. I decided to give it one last chance and bet it all on you. I was right. These last years I've spent with you have been the happiest of my life, Naruto."**

"Y-you said my name." Naruto said in surprise. Never before had Veleno called him by his name. It was always gaki, boy, or brat.

"**Naruto. You are the son of the Poison Dragon Veleno. No one can take that from you. Know this; you are a great Dragon Slayer and mage and that I love you and I'm very proud to be your father and to have you as my son. My last gift to you is the **_**Poison Drive**_**. Proof that you killed a dragon. Use this power well and when you do please think of your dad with kindness. That is my last request."**

"I love you too, Dad." Naruto choked out.

**"Thank you."** With his peace made, Veleno the Poison Dragon passed from this life with a smile on his face on July 7, X777.

Naruto clenched his eyes shut as tears rolled down his face. "I'll make you proud, Dad. That's a promise, dattebayo." Naruto then held his head up to the sky and gave out a long, painful cry that echoed around the forest and was heard for miles.

**A/N: That was the saddest thing I've written so far and it was only the second chapter of my second fic. I tried my damnedest to make that as emotional as it went in my head and I think I did pretty well. This whole chapter was kinda touch and go about how I wrote it and I ended up redoing it a couple of times, but I'm happy with the results. So the usual, PM me if you have questions and I'll answer them if they aren't going to be a spoiler. Happy Thanksgivings to those that celebrate it and later.**


	3. Chapter 3: Cats of a Feather

**Poisoned by Choice**

**Chapter 3: Cats of a Feather**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Naruto they belong to Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively**

**A/N: Okay, this is just some filler before we get to Fairy Tail, which should be next chapter. Canon should start on chapter five, but going from my previous attempts at planning a story line deadline it could start at chapter ten. We get to check up on what Naruto's doing and meet his partner.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**"Demon/Dragon Talking"**

**'Demon/Dragon Thinking'**

_"Telepathic Conversation"_

_'Flashback'_

_Magic/Magic Item_

**Location/Time Change**

**By a River: Six Months after Veleno's Death**

Naruto stood on the riverbank and stared down at the water. Not much had changed since he left the forest Veleno raised him in. After burying his adopted father, he had taken several sets of clothes, a knife that was still usable, some basic camping supplies Kyubi had suggested, and as much money as he could carry from the hoard that Veleno had kept in their cave. Naruto now wore a pair of black shorts and an orange t-shirt. He dropped a stone into the water and watched as it sank to the bottom. "I don't know, Kyubi. Is this really the best place to test water walking?" He asked. That water was pretty deep.

**"Do you know of any other water sources that we could use?"** Kyubi rhetorically asked. **"Just focus your chakra into your feet and stand on the water. It's like the tree climbing exercise you did before."**

"And that went so well." Naruto muttered with a roll of his eyes as he remembered what had happened when he had started to learn about chakra from Kyubi.

'**Forest: Two Months after Veleno's Death**

_Naruto stood in the middle of a forest and stared up at the tallest tree. "I'm supposed to do _what _with my chakra?"_

_Kyubi gave off a sigh. **"Focus it to your feet and walk up the tree. You wanted the next part of your training and this is it. You focus chakra to your feet and just walk on the tree as if it were part of the ground. Put in too much and get launched off, too little and you won't go anywhere. That's why I've been having you practice your chakra control. Or do you not want to learn how to use chakra?"** He sarcastically asked._

_"Alright, alright, I'll walk on the stupid tree." Naruto said. He placed his foot on the tree and started to channel chakra to the limb. Naruto then tried to put his other foot on the trunk and was sent flying off the tree. "What the hell happened!?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his head. He was pretty sure that he had landed on a rock._

_Kyubi gave out a barking laugh at Naruto's failure. He could tell that he would enjoy training the brat, or at least watching him fail. **"You put too much into it, way too much. Lessen it up if you don't want to go flying. On second thought, use the same amount. That was the funniest thing I've seen in years."** He told him._

_"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too." Naruto muttered while he got back on his feet._

_**"Try giving it a running start."** Kyubi suggested after he finished laughing._

_Naruto was skeptical, but it couldn't hurt, could it? He crouched down and narrowed his eyes at the tree. With a yell he charged the tree. Naruto gained ground and felt that he had grasped it. That feeling soon left him as gravity regained hold and sent him down the tree and flat on his ass, once again. "What did I do that time?" He irritably asked as the Kyubi went into another round of laughter._

_**"You put too little into it that time. You were able to go up a couple of steps higher than you would have without chakra, but then couldn't support yourself. You have to find the balance."** The Kyubi told him with a wicked grin. It could take a while, a long, hilarious, painful while and the giant fox was planning to enjoy every minute. As nice as his current container was, he was still his jailer and the Kyubi was more than willing to break out before Naruto set him free if the chance arose. Until then he would watch said jailer crash and burn with a happy smile on his face._

_Naruto gained a determined look and pointed at the tree. "Just you watch! I'm going to climb you all the way to the top even if it takes me years! And after I do I'm going to chop you up for firewood and dance around the blaze, dattebayo!" He declared for the empty forest to hear. Unfortunately for Naruto his minimum chakra control wasn't nearly enough for him to have a grasp on his titanic reserves and it would take him many pain filled days of defeat before he would be able to conquer the accursed tree.'_

**Back at the River**

Naruto scowled at the memory. How he hated that tree, especially the roots he kept landing on. He had laughed in triumph when he had finally managed to reach the top. He had then laughed even harder when he danced around the fire made from the tree as promised. He had eaten like a king that night and it had been the best meal of his life.

**"Quit stalling and start walking."** The Kyubi growled out. He was impatient to watch the brat get soaked. The tree walking failures had stopped being funny when he had been forced to use his chakra to fix all of Naruto's broken bones from his higher falls. This time he wouldn't have to fix any injuries.

"But it looks pretty deep. Shouldn't we wait until I have a better hand at this?"

**"If you can't handle the water then that's fine. You can do it the namby-pamby baby way if you want."** The fox mocked with an innocent tone, certain that Naruto would take the bait.

He did not disappoint as he began to yell at the Biju in his gut. "The hell I can't! I'll show you! I'm going to water walk all the way across the river on my hands, God dammit!" Naruto quickly jumped onto the water to prove his point, and promptly sank like the stone he had dropped earlier.

**"Dear Kami, that was funny!"** Kyubi roared out in laughter. He could feel the surprised look on the brat's face as he plummeted into the depths. This was going to be as funny as he expected! And the kid had even left his clothes on.

Naruto climbed out of the water spitting up part of the river. His teeth chattered as he felt his wet clothes cling to his body like a second skin. They would take hours to dry. On the bright side, he hadn't been wearing his backpack with all of his inheritance from Veleno that he was able to take out of the cave. Naruto walked over to the rock he had placed his backpack by and stripped out of his wet clothes. He left them on the rock to dry and walked back to the river. "How am I supposed to do this?" Naruto asked the fox in his gut. He had learned early on that Kyubi was willing to tell him how to use chakra and perform the exercise, but wouldn't go any farther than that.

**"You have to constantly adjust your chakra levels to account for the constantly changing surface of the water."** Kyubi explained.

Naruto looked back at the frigid river. He gave out a sigh. This was going to suck; he could feel it in his frozen bones.

**Hours Later**

Naruto shakily stood ankle-deep in the middle of the river. He was slowly sinking down into the water, but was doing much better than the instant plunges he did earlier. He just had to slowly make his way across the river. He would be fine; the water was easier to balance on if his feet were submerged. All he had to do was avoid the faster currents in the river and he would make it back to the nice, dry land. He could feel his exhaustion from using so much chakra in one day again. His movements were sluggish and the water was reaching past his knees.

Naruto misjudged the river's flow in his tired state and accidently stepped into one of the faster currents. He lost his control of his chakra and his foot was sent down the river while the rest of his body tried to balance on his back foot. It didn't work and Naruto was sent tumbling headfirst into the water. He sank down to the bottom and silently bemoaned his dilemma; he had been so close this time! Naruto opened his eyes and saw something unusual on the river bottom: a white oval with blurry markings that seemed out of place among the stones. He investigated the object and confirmed that it was not a rock. He was running out of air and had to return to the surface. Naruto channeled more chakra to the bottom of his feet and was shot upwards like a firework. He burst out of the water and greedily sucked in air as he made his way over to the riverbank.

**"You done yet, brat?"** Kyubi asked. He had fallen asleep during the blonde's twenty-fourth or fifth dip in the river. Seeing the kid fail so often had lost its amusement when he wasn't making any actual progress to change up the comedy routine. It had gotten stale.

"One more. I found something weird at the bottom and want to see what it is." Naruto said. "Can I use my magic for this since I'm not training?"

**"No. You know the deal: no magic until you can walk on the river all day**.**"** Kyubi reminded him of the deal they had struck before he started teaching Naruto. Mainly the lazy fox hadn't wanted to heal the brat when he would eventually corrode the tree he was going to be climbing with his magic. Now he was just enjoying himself.

Naruto grumbled to himself, but complied. The only way he would learn how to use chakra was from Kyubi, and if that meant he had to jump through hoops then so be it. He walked over to the river and dove in. There was no use wasting chakra if he was just going to go under anyways. Naruto swam down to the bottom and searched for the object he had seen earlier. He eventually found it and easily dislodged it. Naruto claimed his prize and swam back to the surface with chakra-enhanced kicks, not willing to risk losing the object in another chakra burst. He reached the surface and climbed onto the water, but his legs still sunk up to his calves. The blond trudged his way back to the river bank with the object, now identified as an egg, held over his head.

**"Well?"** Kyubi questioned.

"It's an egg." Naruto told him. Now that it was out of the water he could see that it was a rather large egg, nearly as big as Naruto himself, which was white except for several yellow spirals on its surface.

**"I can see that. What are you going to do with it?"** Kyubi asked. **"It would make a nice meal if you cooked it right and would last for a while."** He commented.

"No way!" Naruto yelled and clutched the egg protectively to himself, as if that would do any good since the fox was inside of him. "I'm gonna hatch it, dattebayo."

**"Why in Kami's name would you do that?"** Kyubi asked in exasperation.

"I want to see what comes out and maybe keep it as a pet." Naruto replied.

Kyubi stuck its pinky claw into his ear to clean it out. He must have been hearing things. There was no way that the kid just told him that he wanted a pet. It was absurd. **"Are you serious?"**

"Yeah. Why? Don't you think that I can do it?" Naruto asked with his eyes narrowed into slits that stretched back his whiskers and gave his face a foxy appearance.

**"Brat, if it wasn't for me you'd be dead by now with some of the shit you've pulled and you haven't even been travelling for a year." **Kyubi deadpanned at him. The amount of crazy situations Naruto had gotten into in the last six months was absurd. It was like the kid was a magnet for trouble and danger.** "There is no way that you could take care of a pet."**

"I can totally take care of a pet, just you watch!" Naruto declared.

**"You don't even know what that thing is! It could try to kill you as soon as it hatches!" **Kyubi yelled at him.

"No he won't. I'll train him better." Naruto said.

**"Fine. Hatch the damn egg. Just don't come crying to me if this ends up biting you in the ass, literally or metaphorically."** Kyubi warned him before settling down to sleep. Who was he kidding; the brat would end up crying to him no matter what happened. He was the only one around for miles. They had left the last small town days ago.

"I'll show you, stupid fox." Naruto said. He held the egg up and examined it. Before he did anything else he had to start a fire and put on some clothes for the night.

Naruto stood in front of a fire and cooked a fish on a stick. Next to him the egg was wrapped in a nest made out of Naruto's extra clothes and a blanket. It was a nice night out and he wouldn't need it. Naruto took a bite out of his fish and looked over the egg. He didn't know how long it would take to hatch, but he was determined to raise whatever came out of the egg. Naruto was getting lonely on his travels. He was on the outskirts and working his way in towards the bigger cities and towns, but still rarely saw people. He wanted someone to talk to. Kyubi was fine, but the giant fox in his gut wasn't much of a conversationalist. Even if it couldn't talk back it would be nice to have a visible companion. Naruto went to sleep that night with visions of a dragon-like creature hatching from the egg and joining him on his travels.

**Next Morning**

Naruto woke up and immediately checked on the egg. It was still in its nest and nothing had changed about it. Naruto walked over and felt the surface for any small cracks, but was disappointed to find none. He shrugged his shoulders and began to start his morning rituals. Soon the smell of cooking meat saturated his camp site.

Naruto munched on a piece of squirrel and thoughtfully looked over the egg. He wasn't sure when it would hatch and might end up having to carry it around for a while. To do that he had to make a sling. Naruto dug around his stuff until he came up with a couple of shirts that should work. He fastened them together to form a sling large enough to carry the egg in. It was kinda bulky and he would have to wear it on his front, but he'd make it work. Naruto gathered up his stuff, put out the fire, and placed the egg in its new sling.

"What are you doing, brat?" Kyubi asked. He had woken up to find that Naruto was almost done packing. **"Aren't you going to finish water walking?"**

"I can do that anytime. I want to try and find a place with books on how to raise an egg." Naruto told him as he finished breaking camp and started out on the road. According to the directions he got from the last small town he stopped at, a larger port town called Hargeon was supposed to be stationed about two weeks' worth of walking due south from them. Naruto had been walking for about five days before he stopped to work on his water walking. He was still over a week out from the town, but if he pushed chakra into his legs he could probably make it in less than a week.

**"Fine. You know the rules: I won't teach you anything more until after you can water walk."** Kyubi reminded him.

"I know, I know." Naruto muttered, before taking off down the road with his chakra-enhanced speed.

**Hargeon Port, Six Days Later**

Naruto walked into Hargeon and gaped at the town. He had never seen anything like it. Veleno had told him that the towns and cities would be large and crowded with buildings that were packed together, but he never imagined it would be like this.

**"Close your mouth before you swallow a bug. You're gaping like a country bumpkin."** Kyubi informed him, ignoring that fact that for all intent and purposes Naruto was a country bumpkin. He had seen a town that needed more than one inn or store, let alone a bustling port like Hargeon.

Naruto shut his mouth with an audible click and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I can't help it. This place is huge!" Naruto replied as he continued to look around with his head whipping back and forth like a swivel.

**"This is just a port town; there are plenty of places bigger than it. And don't talk to me out loud. People will think you're crazy."** Kyubi warned him. Indeed, people were already giving Naruto strange looks for having an egg nearly the size of him in a sling on his chest; he didn't need them to hear him talking to someone that they couldn't see. Even in a world of magic explaining that you had a sentient giant fox made of a foreign energy source that only you possessed sealed inside of your gut would be a one-way trip to the funny farm.

Naruto looked around and noticed that the people were staring at him. He started to feel self-conscious and ducked into a nearby alley. "How am I supposed to talk to you if I can't say anything out loud?" He questioned.

**"Just think of what you want to say to me, I can read your thoughts if you broadcast them inside your head."** Kyubi told him.

'Alright, here goes nothing.' Naruto thought. He closed his eyes in concentration and made his thoughts as loud as possible. _"KYUBI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"_

The giant fox clutched his ears in pain and slammed his head against the bars. **"Not so loud, brat! Just use your normal tone!" **He yelled at Naruto. Kyubi was pretty sure that his eardrums had burst due to the brat's yelling.

"Is this better?" Naruto asked in his normal voice.

**"Much."** Kyubi shook his head and started to give Naruto instructions. **"Find a hotel to spend the night in then go looking for a book store on how to raise eggs. While you're out leave the egg in the room and lock the door." **The fox's good deed for the millennium done, he settled down for a nap. It was the only thing he could do in the Kami-forsaken cage of his, sleep. **"Don't disturb me for a least a couple of hours."** He warned.

"Of course you are." Naruto muttered to himself. What had been the point of teaching him how to talk to the fox telepathically in the first place? All he did was sleep. Nevertheless, he gave sound advice. Naruto went off to find a hotel or bookstore, whichever came first.

**Hotel Room**

Naruto carefully set his egg down on the bed before emptying his backpack next to it. The hotel room had a bed, nightstand for his clothes, and a bathroom that had a shower that Naruto would figure out how to work later. He was just making a quick stop before heading out for the bookstore.

Naruto used the bed's covers to set up another nest for the egg and gave a nod at his results. He then left the room and made sure to lock the door behind him. The blond mage then set out to find a bookstore that sold a book on how to raise an egg, and one that contained a list of names. He hadn't given much thought to what to call whatever came out of the egg yet, but he was planning to start now.

**Hours Later**

Naruto trudged back into the hotel lobby. There was only one goddamn bookstore in the entire town and it had taken him hours to find it. He kept getting lost in this labyrinth that they called a town. Then once he had gotten in the store it had taken him even more time to find the caretaking books on eggs. Most of what he had found on eggs had been cookbooks. He did have better luck with the book of names, though. He didn't know if the shopkeeper had highballed him on the price or not, but at that point he didn't care, he was just happy to get out of the damn store.

Naruto reached the door and reflexively turned the knob. To his surprise, it opened. He rushed inside and found that his egg was gone! Fearing the worst he rushed down to the hotel lobby and quickly checked with the receptionist if anyone had checked in or come by since he had left.

Getting a no, Naruto then started to comb the entire hotel from top to bottom. Despite his searching, and a few corrode locks that the hotel staff and Kyubi hopefully wouldn't notice, Naruto was running out of options. The only places left to check were the employee only sections. Using all of the stealth that he had been taught in the forest, Naruto silently crept into the kitchen. He was the most nervous about this place and had saved it for last in fear of finding his egg in someone's meal.

"Hey, kid!"

Shit, he'd been spotted. Naruto froze in place and slowly turned around while pointing to himself. "Me?" He innocently asked.

"Yeah, you." The head chef told him. "What are you doing in the kitchen?"

"I'm looking for my egg." Naruto said with his best puppy-dog eyes and a slight quiver to his voice. "It was missing in my room and I'm afraid that… that… that…" He didn't finish his sentence and had tears in his eyes. If the chef didn't fall for his act then he had finally found someone more heartless than Kyubi when he was pissed off.

The chef's face softened at Naruto's act. "It's okay. I have something to show you." The chef led Naruto over to where a small, bipedal, yellow cat stood on a stool watching the food cook. "We found this little guy wandering the hotel. He showed us which room he was from and we had the shell cleaned up and left a note. He's been in the kitchen since then." The chef explained.

Naruto hadn't seen the note in his distress over the missing egg. He was overjoyed to find that it had hatched, but the egg containing a cat was a little surprising. He walked up to the cat and tapped it on the shoulder.

The cat turned around and showed that it had a fringe of yellow fur covering his left eye and long whiskers around his mouth that ended in spirals. "Hi, I'm Naruto. It's nice to meet you. I'm the one that was carrying the egg you hatched from. Let's be friends." Naruto said before reaching out to pet the cat's pointed ears.

"Don't pet me, you shitty blond." The cat said, surprising Naruto so much that he fell back in shock.

"He's been following some of the busboys around and picked up their language. Sorry about that." The chef apologized.

Naruto waved him off. "It's fine. I was just surprised he could talk." Naruto squinted back at the cat. "Do you have a name yet?" He asked.

"No." The cat said and angrily lashed his tail. "My shitty owner wasn't there to give me one." He said with clear resentment in his voice.

"Oi, I'm not your owner, I'm your partner." Naruto said with a smile. He held out a fist to the cat. "I've got a book full of names. Want to find one you like, partner?"

The cat stared at Naruto's fist for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, partner."

**Hotel Room**

Naruto and the cat stood across from each other and were clearly bored. They had been going through names for hours and the cat still hadn't found one that he liked. It was getting annoying for both of them.

"Saji?"

"No."

"Shino?"

"No."

"Anything starting with Shiro?"

"I'm yellow not white."

Naruto dropped the book with a groan. "Dammit, pick a name already! We've been at this for hours!" He said in irritation.

"I don't like it any better than you." The cat replied. "Just stick with it, and stop skipping around with the names. Keep it alphabetical and it'll go faster." He told Naruto.

The mage grumbled and picked the book back up. Who the hell did the cat think he was? He was only a couple of hours old and already bossing him around. Naruto gave out a sigh. "I'm finishing the S's and then going to eat whether you found a name yet or not."

"Fine by me."

"Alright, Shin."

"No."

"Sanji."

"Hey, I like the sound of that." The cat said.

"Really?" Naruto hadn't expected the cat's name to be picked that fast after his ultimatum.

"Yep, from now on my name is Sanji!" The newly named Sanji declared.

"Thank God. Now let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." Naruto said after tossing the book aside.

"Agreed." Sanji said before sprouting white angel-like wings from his back.

Together the cat and human mages set off for a dinner to commemorate their newly established partnership.

**A/N: Okay, got this done just before I leave for the holidays. I'll be in Florida working on my tan while everyone else freezes like a popsicle. As you can see, Naruto's Exceed partner is going to be Sanji from One Piece. I'll get more into that in later chapters. Until then, later.**


End file.
